Rangers goalie Georgiev denies Leafs fifth straight win

NEW YORK — When the Maple Leafs came into Madison Square Garden on Sunday feeling confident about their power play, they did not think a Bulgarian born goalie would be such a spoiler.

But they head to Denver with an 0-for-4 night adding to their special teams woe, but saluting the 55 saves of Alexandar Georgiev in the Rangers 4-1 win. Of those stops, 23 were on the power play.

“A lot of those saves weren’t first opportunities, they were second and thirds,” said Mitch Marner. “He played a hell of a game for them.”

On his 23rd birthday Georgiev played for Henrik Lundqvist and only gave up a breakaway goal to Kasperi Kapanen. That came after Mika Zibanejad scored at the game’s 28 second mark from one of Toronto’s 15 giveaways on the night.

That also undermined the power play, the source of a lively team meeting when the Leafs skipped the morning skate after winning in Montreal.

We’ve been frustrated with it and watching a lot of video,” Marner said. I think tonight is a big step forward. We talked about how much skill we have as a group in here and about calming down. I think we did that a lot when the puck was in our hands and on our breakouts.”

This latest 1-for-18 skid kept the Leafs on the bottom half of the NHL special teams chart sinking near 20% as well as a hockey chance to put away the scuffling Rangers, who have one of the league’s poorest penalty kills.

The silver lining was drawing four calls and good movement despite the lack of finish.

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Garret Sparks, right, protects the net during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in New York.Bill Kostroun /
AP

“It didn’t score, but it would be pretty hard to look at that power play and say it wasn’t good,” coach Mike Babcock said. “The guys understand they had good looks and good opportunities On the other side, sometimes the goalie steals one, but that doesn’t make you feel any better.”

From a crazy seven-shot sequence on their first swing with the man advantage to pucks that bounced off posts and stayed out, it was a heroic game by Georgiev.

Nazem Kadri was told he had 12 shots, three off the unofficial team record, but only shrugged and said “none of them went in.”

Playing on Saturday in Montreal, the Leafs had little left in the third period when a Jake Muzzin clear was stopped at the blue line by Adam McQuaid, who beat Garret Sparks using Auston Matthews as a screen. Kevin Hayes had an empty nettter.

The main Leafs unit features Matthews, Marner, John Tavares, Morgan Rielly and Nazem Kadri. Both groups have combined for four goals since Christmas.

Brady Skjei #76 of the New York Rangers holds up William Nylander #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period at Madison Square Garden on February 10, 2019 in New York City.Bruce Bennett /
Getty Images

“We have five really good players and Jim (assistant coach Hiller) does a really good job with the scheme, but right now we’re pressing,” Babcock said before the fame. “We’re not executing, not on faceoffs, not on breakouts, not in the zones.

“We talked about that today, I thought Jim did a good job. If you think about our group you’d be excited to play on it. Get out there and get excited. We might need it tonight.”

It took the Rangers just 28 seconds to score, after a Rielly giveaway. No. 2 goalie Garret Sparks made two good saves before a clearing attempt also failed and the hot Zibanejad put it in.

In the midst of the Leaf power-play palooza, Chris Kreider hopped out of the box and into the rush to assist on Jimmy Vesey’s goal. Zach Hyman, who has shown his rougher side at times this season, went after Ranger Neal Pionk in the second period after he felt the Rangers seventh defenceman on the lineup put s cheap shot low hit on Marner.

ENNIS STILL ON HOLD

Babcock is waiting at least another game before getting Tyler Ennis in a game, after he was cleared to play on the weekend.

“He’s trained hard and got ready to go (from a broken ankle in late December),” Babcock said. “I thought our lineup was real good (in Montreal), in particular our fourth line (where Ennis should start) and maybe it was our best line.”

Speaking of which, Andreas Johnsson went into Sunday’s game with six points in his past three games, taking advantage of road clearance by Frederik Gauthier and Par Lindholm.

“We talk a lot to get the puck deep and forecheck,” Johnsson said. “We have the Goat in front to lead the way and try to make him hit as many guys as possible because he’s the biggest guy on the ice. He will put some damage to the other guys and then me and Lindy try to take the puck and do something with it. The last four games we’ve been able to find our game, get it deep and score.”

Johnsson, rocked by some hits as a newcomer in the AHL and NHL, appreciates the 6-foot-5, 235-pound Gauthier.

“You have to have a couple of guys who are bigger and able to make big hits, Johnsson said, “so that the other guys can’t hit you because they know they will get hit harder. That’s the key on any team, you have to have some skill and some bigger guys that are more physical, even back in Sweden.”

HEAD’S UP FRED

Frederik Andersen could conceivably start every game on the coming West Coast portion of the road trip that starts Tuesday in Colorado and winds through Las Vegas, Arizona and St. Louis with days off in between.

But he had a week’s worth of adventure on Saturday in Montreal playing in front of a live wire crowd, a couple of unwanted guests in red in his crease and what could have been the worst long range goal he allowed this year off Tomas Tartar’s stick.

“He got that shot off and it dipped on me, a pretty good knuckleball,” said Andersen, who could joke about it after the 4-3 overtime win. It happens, but you just have to answer and save the next one.”

As for a collision in the blue paint that saw him go down for a few anxious moments, he said it was not a ploy to get the officials’ attention about interference.

“We had it checked out,” he said of therapist Paul Ayotte coming to his aid . “Obviously, a great deal of pain right away. But it shouldn’t be anything more than that.”

He refused to say if the concern Saturday was his arm or a related body part.

“I won’t go into that. You can look at the video.”

Asked directly if he’s getting pestered too often, he replied: “It’s the time of year when everything intensifies in front of the net. People want to get to the net and try to score. They get paid to do that, too.”

LOOSE LEAFS

Andersen on the weekend’s hot topic, a possible Leafs-Canadiens playoff series: “We still have a few games before that . I know you have to get a little bit ahead of yourself . But it would be a pretty good buzz around Canada and the rest of the league” … The win Saturday put Babcock at the 300-game mark as a Leaf coach, something just eight men have done in franchise history … Former Leaf and Ranger Eddie Shack turned 82 on Sunday … Sparks was looking forward to his first game at historic MSG. “It should be cool, I’ve never been there,” the 25-year-old goalie said before Sunday. “But I’ve played a lot in Utica and that rink is a mini-MSG. That’s what I’ll equate it to.” Just don’t expect Sparks to spend much time marvelling at the Empire State Building, Times Square, etc. “I’ve got this anti-New York bias because I’m from Chicago,” Sparks said of the civic pride rivalry. “But it will be a big station for me.”

BIG SHOT A BIG DEAL

Marner believes Jake Muzzin’s big shot will eventually help open some room on the inconsistent Leafs power play. “It makes the guys in the middle (penalty killers) have to buy in more to block it. And he can score on it. It gives us another weapon.”

Marner has hinted the Leafs should use their point men more to help the unit, while Babcock remains confident they will strike it rich, especially the first group.

MARLIES FALL TO SENATORS

Jeremy Bracco remains hot, though the Marlies were flat at the end of a five-game homestand. Bracco had a power-play goal and an assist, but the farm team fell 4-3 in overtime to the Belleville Senators on Sunday at Coca Cola Coliseum.

Bracco has a slew of multi point games and six points in his past three games. The second-round pick from 2015, leads the AHL in assists with 35. Chris Mueller went over the 50-point mark as he continued a six-game points streak. Defenceman Martin Marincin, who cleared waivers with the Leafs a few days earlier, had a goal and assist.

In net, Kasimir Kaskisuo stopped 19 of 23 shots.

The Marlies are still bugged by some injuries; Timothy Liljegren is still out with a high ankle sprain since before Christmas. Physical forward Mason Marchment is out with a collarbone injury.

“We’ve got some injuries, obviously and we’ve lost some of our depth over time,” coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We’ve had veteran (roster issues), so we have limited options in that sense, but certainly accountability is a big part of it. I mean we’ve got to be more consistent with our effort.”

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